Pope, Jordanian king agree dialogue "only option" in Syria

Thursday, August 29, 2013 - 00:38

Aug. 29 - Pope Francis and King Abdullah of Jordan agree at a meeting in the Vatican that dialogue among Syrians is the ''only option'' to end the country's conflict, as talk of Western military strikes increases. Rough Cut (No reporter narration).

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King Abdullah of Jordan flew to Rome specifically to meet Pope Francis to discuss the Middle East crisis. The king, Queen Rania and the pope spoke privately for 20 minutes in the Vatican's apostolic palace on Thursday.
The king and the pontiff "reaffirmed that the path of dialogue and negotiations among all components of Syrian society, with the backing of the international community, is the only option to end the conflict and the violence that each day cause the loss of so many human lives, most of all among the defenceless population", the Vatican said in a statement.
The pope and the king met a day after U.S. officials described plans for multi-national strikes on Syria that could last for days, and as Washington and its European and Middle East allies said Syrian President Bashar al-Assad must face retribution for using banned weapons against his people.

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